Uriel's Descent (Ubiquity #1) (21 page)

She clenched her jaw, and her nostrils flared. “I never asked you for eternity, or even next week. I’m just trying to figure out where we stand.”

“And I’m telling you. There’s a chasm between us, and it has to stay that way.” He forced an edge into his words despite the tear it left inside him to say them.

She nodded, eyes hard. “You were willing to surrender immortality for her, but you’re going to strip away the one night we had together. And you insist she’s in the past?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”
Damn it,
he hated being so bad with words.

“Then explain it to me. Make me understand. I so desperately want to. I don’t think you have any idea how nice it would be if something, anything, made sense.”

He summoned his decision from the sleepless night of pondering. “This isn’t about her, or you, or me, or any one of us individually. Angels keeping cherubs to make themselves untouchable? Not falling when they should? That dead angels can be stuffed back inside someone else and given new life? It’s bigger than anything since Lucifer walked away from heaven to do things his own way. I don’t want to reach a point where protecting you means putting the interests of the rest of the world aside. Some angels can balance duty and love. I can’t.”

“I don’t need you looking out for me.” She turned away. “I just wanted an untarnished memory I knew was my own and to know where we stood. Thank you for that at least.” The kitchen door swung shut behind her as she pushed out of the room.

He knew this was the right thing to do, but that didn’t make the ache in his chest fade.

Michael checked the attitude at the gates to hell when he went to visit Lucifer. He didn’t grovel to anyone, but he needed a favor. He knocked on the heavy oak door, feeling enough of Lucifer in the air to know he’d get a response.

The door swung open, and Lucifer sat at the desk. He nodded to the chair across from him. “You’re spending a lot of time here lately. Thinking of switching sides?”

Michael raised his brows at the bad joke. “We both know I wouldn’t last a day playing by hell’s rules.”

“It’s true. Thousands of years old and never learned how to lie. I don’t get that.”

“I don’t suppose you would.” Speaking of, Michael needed to cut to the chase. The sooner he did this, the better. “I need a favor.”

“Just like that? No foreplay? You’re not even going to buy me dinner? Tell me you at least showed Ronnie a better time last night.”

The memories slammed back into Michael like a freight train, assaulting him with both physical and emotional sensations. He struggled to keep his face impassive. “That’s between her and me.”

“Yeah, yeah. A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell. And I don’t want details. Your response tells me all I need. You couldn’t keep your hands to yourself.” Anger crept into Lucifer’s voice. “I had one request. A simple, simple thing I asked for, and that was for you walk away from her. And you’ve got the nerve to come in here and ask for a favor when you couldn’t even give me that?”

The rage might have made someone else back down. Michael recognized the shift in the air, the glow in Lucifer’s eyes, the rumble in his voice. Michael wasn’t fazed. “This is bigger than a single demon.”

“
So’s she.
” Lucifer’s response rattled the walls. “And some little Gabriel prodigy almost took her out last night. I’m grateful you were there, but I have to wonder if you had backed off when I asked, would this have happened before she figured things out on her own?”

“We don’t deal in hypotheticals,” Michael said. “So we won’t talk about how this is close to driving Ronnie into isolation and insanity, and how maybe if someone helped her sooner…”

He shook his head. Lucifer was distracting him, and he wouldn’t let that happen. “That
meltdown
last night is why I’m here. Gabriel has more of those. Angels with cherubs working outside the confines of Ubiquity. Ariel won’t be the last, and we need to step in at Ubiquity.”

“This from a guy who’s been all about going it solo for centuries.”

“You said it yourself last night. I’m back. Things are changing. I’m one of them.”

Lucifer stared at him for a long minute. “I still don’t understand this
we
statement of yours. You’re working there.”

“I’m not enough. You put this structure in place, and you can navigate it. Things are out of control. Gabriel’s development team rigged the system. All the top performers are spoon-fed the best leads, and they’re all heaven’s. It’s time we went hands-on.”

“
Fuck
.” Lucifer slammed his fist into the desk. “All right. I can’t have this…” He snapped his jaw shut. “I’ll step in.”

“Perfect. Then one more thing.”

“You’ve used up your favors for the next decade.” Lucifer spoke through clenched teeth.

“You’ll like this one. Abaddon wants a job at Ubiquity.”

“I fucking hate that. What in eternity makes you think that’s good news? And why the hell would she do that?”

“She wants to
make a difference.
” Michael let the sarcasm leak into his words. He held up a hand when Lucifer opened his mouth. “I know she’s lying, but not why. If we let her in, we can keep an eye on her.”

Lucifer shrugged. “You and I both know this
we
thing is bullshit. She’s only going to answer to you or Gabe. Besides, if you want me to sift out the mess at Ubiquity, I can’t babysit. Bring her in yourself if you want, but I’m not touching it.”

“But you want the answers.”

“I do. But that woman scares me a little. You get answers. Share them with me.”

“Why would I do that?” Michael asked.

“You owe me. Offices open in what? An hour? I’ll be there.”

* * * *

Ronnie shouldn’t have to go back to work. Wasn’t there some kind of bereavement leave for losing one’s apartment? Or for their supposed-best friend’s trying to kill them? But she was there because the alternative spoke to her every negative emotion—past and present. She could have stayed in Michael’s condo, pretending. He’d be at Ubiquity, but that didn’t make it any less awkward sticking around at his place. She could have gone house hunting, but nothing was in her price range.

And at least if she was going to growl and snap at people, she could take her frustration out on Raphael.

She stepped off the elevator, and an almost tangible sense of chaos and panic rushed past her. No one was working. Angels and demons alike were rolled out of their cubes, heads bent together, whispering.

She caught snatches of words, and some heads turned in her direction as she passed. “Ariel…” several of them whispered.

“…devastation…”

“…corruption…”

“…politics…”

“…Lucifer….”

The last word sent her stumbling over an invisible spot in the carpet, but she caught herself before she fell. She managed to make her way to her cubicle without another incident.

“He’s here.”

Ronnie noticed. “
Thanks for the update, Miss Obvious.”
She was only in her seat for a few seconds when she heard the creak of plastic chair wheels. She turned to find one of her cube neighbors, Tiamat, behind her. She was a demon with pixie-cut dark hair, gorgeous violet eyes, and skin that would have made a porcelain doll envious.

“Have you heard?” she asked.

Ronnie heard a lot of things. Normally she got her office gossip from Ari. The name welled inside, stuffing her with ambivalence. She tried to force the feeling away with her response. “Nope.”

“It’s Lucifer.” She leaned closer, voice low—which was ridiculous since
everyone
was talking about whatever this was, but Ronnie wasn’t going to point it out.

This wasn’t the first time he was in the office since Ronnie started here. “And?”

Tia’s grin reminded Ronnie of the Cheshire Cat. “You heard what happened last night, right? With the fires and the destruction and stuff?”

Ronnie’s gut sank. She needed to put everything from last night as far behind her as possible. Catching up with Izzy was about the only thing she wanted as a reminder.
Go figure.
All this time she fought for her memories, and now she didn’t want the ones she had. “I heard a little bit.”

“Apparently, it was Ariel. She went on some kind of insane rampage because she lost her job. Can you believe they fired her? If she wasn’t safe, none of us are.”

No mention of the cherubs Ari stole and kept. As long as Ronnie’s colleagues maintained their ignorance about the option, no one else was in danger of losing their jobs. “What’s that got to do with Lucifer?”

“He’s stepping in. Says this isn’t the organization he helped build, and he wants to keep a closer eye on things.”

Lucifer was enforcing order and going hands-on? Uneasiness slid under Ronnie’s skin. That didn’t sound like him. “Isn’t that why Michael was here?”

“I don’t know.” Tia shrugged. “But he’s an angel, right?” Her voice dropped lower. “You know what Raphael’s like. I bet Michael’s just as bad.”

Ronnie ground her teeth together to fight back the surge of desire mingled with loss over what she did and didn’t have with Michael.
Thank God
Metatron was quiet this morning. “I doubt it.”

“Whatever. So Lucifer is holding one-on-ones with everyone. He’s already laid several people off today.”

Maybe no one was safe after all. Would he fire Ronnie? No. Her luck wasn’t that good this week. “Bummer.” She turned away. She didn’t want to be rude, but she wondered if she made it onto his schedule. Would she actually have a chance to talk to him today? “I should get to work if they’re laying off agents.”

Tia made a sound that was half squeal, half
eep
, and Ronnie heard the casters roll away behind her.

“I don’t care which VIPs are in the office, you still have to log into the queue.” Raphael’s threat greeted Ronnie from behind.

That was what she needed. She held up her right hand, middle finger extended, while she used her left to log in. “Yes, sir.”

He growled, and she braced herself for more, but there was nothing. She wouldn’t to look. Wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“Just do your fucking job.”

She stopped herself from saying
language
and dove into her work. It was more to keep her mind occupied than because of Raphael’s threat. The leads that came across her desk were so completely not cherubs, it wasn’t funny. At least that meant she wouldn’t have to ignore any of them. Michael’s office door stayed closed all morning, and she was grateful. So did the one to the office Lucifer appropriated, and as the hours ticked by, it infuriated her more and more. Lucifer was right there, closer than in ages. And Ronnie was going to make him tell her…
Yeah, who am I kidding?
She couldn’t make him tell her anything. She doubted she could get in to see him.

“Are we still going on about this?”

“Oh hey, I missed you. Not.”

Ronnie’s phone buzzed, and reluctant hope rushed through her. Not a lot of people had her number. Her gut twisted in on itself when she saw the message from Gabe.

Can we talk? I’d rather not set foot in that building right now. I’m across the street, if you’d like lunch.

“He can kiss your hurt feelings better.”
Metatron’s snide comment broke into Ronnie’s reading.

“Shut up.”
Why didn’t he want to be here? Did he really have to avoid Lucifer?

“Or maybe he’s not avoiding anyone. He just likes fucking with your head.”

At this point, it wouldn’t surprise Ronnie. Everyone else was.

“Whine, whine, whine. Do you ever stop?”

Metatron was one to talk. Ronnie glanced at the clock. It was close enough to noon. She could get away with heading out for lunch. She didn’t want to see Gabe, but curiosity compelled her. There was a reason he kept pursuing her, and if it gave her any hints about how to split Metatron from her, she’d grit her teeth through his creepy come-ons.

She sent him back a quick reply that she’d be there soon and set her queue to
Away
. Grabbing her purse, she made her way to the lobby.

She took her time strolling the block to the strip mall. Gabe’s message wasn’t specific, but there was only one place to eat there. An office building full of angels and demons with borderline sensory addictions was plenty to keep the bakery in business.

Ronnie stepped inside. The incredible aroma of fresh bread and caramelized sugar rushed over her, and her stomach growled. She didn’t know when she last ate, but it would have to wait a little longer.

Gabe was at the far end of the room. He raised his head from its resting spot on his palms and stood when he saw her. His familiar smile didn’t reassure her the way he probably wanted it to.

“If Michael doesn’t want you…”

Yeah, she and Metatron already had that conversation. Ronnie wasn’t in the mood to settle. Especially for Mr. Creepy-Crawly. She wasn’t in the mood for much of anything unless it came wrapped in answers.

When Ronnie drew close, Gabe grabbed her fingers and kissed the back of her hand. A familiar rush flowed through her, and she relaxed despite herself as the gesture sapped her anxiety.

“But not all of it.”

“Shut up.”
She slid onto the seat across from him in the booth, trying to be polite about pulling her hand away.

“I’m glad you came.” His smile appeared genuine. “I hear there are changes going on over there.”

“I bet that’s the understatement of a lifetime. But only like a human one, not like Lucifer’s.”

How much did Gabe know? And how much would he let on, even if he knew it all? “I guess. There was a fire or something downtown last night.”

“So I heard. Kind of hard to miss. Something like a rampaging fallen angel makes people talk.”

Ronnie didn’t like how casually he took the whole thing. Ari might have gone off the deep end, but she’d liked him. Hell, Ronnie might have even said Ari was crushing on him. And he brushed the entire thing off like a minor bit of inconvenience. White-hot fury singed her nerves, and she struggled to contain it while she searched for a way to keep the conversation rational enough to prod Gabe for answers.

“I know you need to get back to work.” He reached for her hand again. “But I need to talk to you, and it can’t wait.”

“Okay…” Maybe Ronnie didn’t need to coax anything out of him after all.

“I know you’re hesitating about my offer.” He traced the back of her knuckles with his thumb.